Fighting the wave of exhaustion that washed over her, Perenelle turned back to the ladder and pulled herself upward. “That’s what everyone says,” she murmured. “But I’m still alive.”

“You could have helped.” Perenelle was sitting on one of the steps in the exercise yard. She turned her face to the afternoon sun and allowed the warmth to soak into her body and recharge her aura.

“Why?” Perched on a step below and to Perenelle’s right, the Crow Goddess had spread her black cloak out about her and had also turned her face to the sunlight, eyes lost behind mirrored black sunglasses. Her skin had returned to its former alabaster and only the faintest hint of green remained, with the puckered suggestion of pimples around her lips.

Perenelle took a moment to consider and then she nodded. She had no answer to that. Nereus was not their enemy.

“We could have flown away, too,” the Crow Goddess suggested without moving her head.

Perenelle was beginning to identify the voices; the Badb’s was slightly softer than the harsher and more masculine Machas’s.

“Why didn’t you?” Perenelle asked. When she’d finally climbed out of the shaft, filthy and almost sick with exhaustion, she’d known that she was in no condition to fight the Crow Goddess. She hadn’t expected to find the creature still on the island at all, but it had been crouched by the entrance to the shaft beneath the rusting water tower, carefully sewing long black feathers back onto its cloak. “Why did you stay?”

The Crow Goddess stirred. “We have been trapped within the Morrigan for a long time. She’s had lifetimes of fun; now it’s our turn. And we decided that there would be no place more exciting than Alcatraz in the hours to come.”

Perenelle eased herself up on her elbows to look down at the creature. “Exciting? I think we might have two different definitions of that word.”

The Crow Goddess moved her head and eased her dark glasses down her nose with a long black-nailed finger. One red and one yellow eye blinked at the woman. “Remember, humani, we are the Badb and Macha. We are Fury and Slaughter. Our sister is Death. For millennia, we have been drawn to battlefields the world over, where we feasted on the pain and memories of the dead and dying.” Black lips pulled back from long white teeth in a terrifying grin. “And right now, this island is exactly where we need to be.” She licked her lips. “I think there is going to be a banquet for us soon!”

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Tires spinning in the mud, the heavy taxicab lurched forward. Sophie gasped as her seat belt locked tight, pulling her back into the seat. Josh groaned as his jerked across his aching stomach.

“Sorry!” Palamedes shouted. “Hang on. Here they come…”